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You’re wearing the wrong bra!

The key is to get measured properly by a pro. Then you can shop!

ShopSmart: April 2012

At the risk of oversharing, I must report that I am wearing a gorgeous new bra today! It’s a size I never would have tried on—and frankly, didn’t know existed. But a professional fitting by a bra expert confirmed what I’d suspected: I was wearing the wrong size bra. That’s why my straps were always falling down and I just wasn’t comfortable; my band was too big around and my cups—yes, they runneth over. Turns out, most women have the same fit issue. The day the bra fitter came to our offices, we held an open call for staffers to come and get measured. Forty-five women showed up and not one was wearing the correct size! Bet your bra is the wrong size too!

We chose six lucky volunteers to participate in a bra makeover. They let us photograph them “before,” in their old bra, and “after,” in a new bra our expert chose for them in their actual correct size. We chose these women because we knew our readers would be able to relate to at least one of them, whether you’re big busted or small, two different sizes, or maybe losing weight and changing sizes. Check out our makeovers in the April issue, where you’ll also learn how to measure yourself, how to determine if a bra fits properly, where to buy new bras, and even how to put on your bra (chances are, you’re doing it wrong!).

This story was more eye-opening for me than maybe any other I’ve worked on at ShopSmart. It’s incredible that something we rely on every day is really not working for us! When our makeover volunteers put on their new bras, every one of them told us that they felt transformed. They only looked better (thinner!), they stood up straighter, and one woman even said that she stopped having shoulder pain once she was properly fitted!

So why are we getting so wrong? I think there are a few main reasons: Women just keep buying the same size they’ve always bought. They may not bother to try on new bras. But the biggest problem, in my opinion, is that most mainstream stores carry a very limited size range. If you’re very small or very big, you’re probably out of luck. So women do the best they can with what they can find. And most stores that sell bras don’t offer measuring, so we’re really on our own.

No more! Read “The perfect bra for you” in the April issue of ShopSmart. Get yourself measured, either by yourself or by a professional. Then buy yourself some new bras. And let us know the results!